In Dayton, it’s impossible to recall the mayor or commission

Mayor Gary Leitzell brought this up to the commission after I pointed out the problem with the commission. They did nothing. I also suggested changing the petition forms- since we seem to have so many failed applications. They did nothing. Finally- today (after the election fiasco- where nobody voted) they point it out:

Dayton would require 23,403 signatures. That’s because Dayton’s charter language requires approval by 25 percent of registered voters. For context, only 16,137 people voted in Dayton’s race for mayor this month.

Of course, there is more to the story (that they don’t tell) in that the Board of Elections will routinely throw out between 12% and 40% of petition signatures turned in because their “graphologists” (handwriting experts, who are generally not accepted in courts of law in the United States) will find fault with the signature, date, address or any of a multitude of reasons.

So, to remove Nan Whaley for acting like Toronto Mayor Rob Ford- who is behaving like a moron, is impossible in Dayton.

It’s part of the reason the commission can hold the public in contempt and do as they please and never have to worry about their jobs.

The solution is to adopt Ohio Revised Code- which bases the number on the actual voters in an election- not the number on the voter rolls. Which if it was based on the election the person was voted in on- means we’d only need about 3,200 signatures to meet the 25% threshold ( to remove Ms. Whaley if we wanted- as compared to about 6,000 to remove sitting Mayor Gary Leitzell who had about 17,000 votes four years ago.

Even the 25% threshold is rather high. ORC makes it 15%

Recall. Certain municipal office holders can be recalled under state law but not state officeholders. A recall under state law requires petition signatures of at least 15 percent of registered voters who cast ballots in the most recent municipal election. The law details the removal and replacement process once sufficient petition signatures are submitted. -ibid

To begin to change the charter only takes 3 commission votes- but if a citizen wants to do it, it takes 10% of the registered voters, which currently means about 12,000+ signatures. This also needs to be addressed.

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4 Responses

@Roger- well, let’s see, how many public dollars have been spent on private real estate deals where there was no contract in place? How do you think she raised all that money?

The failed Kroger deal at Wayne and Wyoming where they spent untold millions to blight, appraise and option a 12 acre lot- with no contract in hand?

The handing over of $3.5 million a building that was valued at over $120M to IRG- who then proceeded to scrap it- without any kind of performance guarantee or any skin in the game.

The blowing up of the historic Schwind building and the tearing down of the Dayton Daily News building- including the part that wasn’t supposed to come down- without a clear deed or contract in hand.

Those are just three examples of gross negligence with public money.

All Rob Ford did was smoke crack and act like an asshole- not waste public money on private deals.

RogerNovember 24, 2013 / 9:02 am

Oh, you mean REAL crimes. I thought you were accusing her of being a drunken crackhead bore. That is a different kind of crime. She’s not a moron. She is a corrupt politician. Those are two different things.

larry sizerNovember 24, 2013 / 11:52 am

Keep up the “Watchdog Journalism” David, without you I would have no idea how crooked Dayton politics are, is, was, still…